Hawaii Vacation Deals and News Roundup For November 12th

As Thanksgiving approaches, it seems like we have a cornucopia of Hawaii deals and news today.  

  • United Airlines has an airfare sale to Hawaii with fares as low as $192 one-way. The sale is valid for travel before March 11, 2009 and several terms apply.  It’s worth a peek.
  • Continental Airlines Vacations has a deal you might want to consider, if you’re booking a flight/hotel package up to $2,399, you can save an additional $75.  For packages between $2,400 and $3,999 you can save $150. With all higher packages, you can save $250. From my review, it looks like deals to Honolulu/Waikiki are best with some freebies, like hotel transfers, lei greeting, and a breakfast thrown in. You need to use promotion code CV8702.
  • Hawaiian Airlines also has an airfare sale with round-trip fares as low as $319.
  • For Southwest Airlines fans, the company says it’s in talks with other carriers for a code share for flights to Hawaii. As you may recall, they previously had a code share with ATA Airlines which shut down this past Spring.
  • Orbitz revealed the top 10 destinations for Christmas 2008.  Honolulu (Oahu) and Lahaina (Maui) are both top 10 Christmas destinations this year. Honolulu moved from being the 13th most popular destination in 2007 to the fourth position this year.  Lahaina wasn’t even in the top 20 rankings last year, but is the ninth most popular destination this Christmas. Let me be the first to say that many more people are going to have a Maui Christmas this year. 🙂
  • A new luxury resort, Honua Kai Resort & Spa, is due to open in January 2009 on Kaanapali’s North Beach in West Maui. They’re not advertising rates on their Web site yet, but I’d imagine they will be on the high end of the scale.  I like that fact that each room has a gourmet kitchen. Having a kitchen is not only convenient, but can save you a bundle.
  • If you’d selected Air Kauai for your helicopter tour of the Garden Isle, you might want to have a backup plan.  The company stopped flying last week after their two helicopters were repossessed.  They’re in the process of filing for bankruptcy protection which would allow them to get the helicopters back while the case is being reviewed. (Source)
  • KGMB has a nice video summary of yesterday’s Veterans Day ceremonies across Oahu.

Sheila Beal is the founder and editor of Go Visit Hawaii. You can connect with Sheila Beal on Twitter, Go Visit Hawaii on Facebook, or Instagram.

7 comments

  3. thanks for the info about the new Honua Kai resort – do you know anything else about it, especially cost? And, do you think we will see any deals for hotels in Maui next June? We are planning a trip for my Dad’s birthday and trying to decide when to make our lodging reservations….

    Reply

  4. Hi Gudrun – I think they’ve just recently added a reservation search here:
    http://www.honuakaimaui.com/RatesReservations.aspx (Click on the link “Please check room availability and rates to plan your trip.”)

    I tested some days in June and the lowest rate was $425 per night. Perhaps you’d be interested in a 2-bedroom unit which goes for $625 for a resort view. I’d guess that these are rack rates. I’ll be on the look out for special rates and posting them as I see them.

    Overall, I think that the consensus is that 2009 is going to be another slow year in Hawaii. If that is the case, look for tons of great deals all year long. At the moment, I’m mostly seeing deals out through March 2009.

    One thing you might want to consider is that Outrigger Condos did just announce (yesterday) that they will extend their promotion for Foodland grocery store gift cards up to $150 for each new five-night stay through December 21, 2009. Here’s a bit more about that offer: http://outrigger.com/specials_travel_package_details.aspx?tpID=570&hID=25&prop=1

    Reply

  5. ouch! $425 a night is steep 🙂

    Thanks for the tip about Outrigger – I did find one of their rooms at $219/night, which I think is pretty good on Maui. My family (well, mostly my husband) would like to stay at one of the hotels on Kaanapali with water slides. I will probably have to get pretty creative in order to find one of those that is affordable.

    Cheers,

    Reply

  7. not yet – although, we were on the Westin Maui site this weekend and noticed they have some pretty low rates starting at $240 for a garden view King room. These are totally non-changable, non-cancellable rooms, so we are trying to confirm our plans before booking.

    Thanks for the link to this other place, I will definitely check them out. $195 is pretty unheard of for Maui!

    Thank you!

    Reply
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